Embracing age : how Catholic Nuns became models of aging well / Anna I. Corwin.

"Embracing Age: How Catholic Nuns Became Models of Aging Well examines a community of individuals whose aging trajectories contrast mainstream American experiences. In mainstream American society, aging is presented as a "problem," a state to be avoided as long as possible, a state that threatens one's ability to maintain independence, autonomy, control over one's surroundings. Aging "well" (or avoiding aging) has become a 21st century American preoccupation. Embracing Age provides a window into the everyday lives of American Catholic nuns who experience longevity and remarkable health and well-being at the end of life. Catholic nuns aren't only healthier in older age, they are healthier because they practice a culture of acceptance and grace around aging. Embracing Age demonstrates how aging in the convent becomes understood by the nuns to be a natural part of the life course, not one to be feared or avoided. Anna I. Corwin shows readers how Catholic nuns create a cultural community that provides a model for how to grow old, decline, and die that is both embedded in American culture and quite distinct from other American models"-- Provided by publisher.

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Introduction -- Part 1 Being Well in the Convent Prayer and Care in Interaction -- 1 Life in the Convent -- 2 Being Is Harder Than Doing The Process of Embracing Aging -- 3 Talking to God Prayer as Social Support -- 4 Care, Elderspeak, and Meaningful Engagement -- Part 2 Shaping Experience The Convent in Sociohistorical Context -- 5 Changing God, Changing Bodies How Prayer Practices Shape Embodied Experience -- 6 Spiritual Healing, Meaningful Decline, and Sister Death -- 7 Kenosis Emptying the Self -- Conclusion -- Appendix Transcription Conventions -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- References -- Index

Includes bibliographical references and index.

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